


Remaining to be seen

by PandaInTheStars



Series: Lucifer Oneshots [6]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Halloween Challenge, Hurt/Comfort, Set ambiguously sometime in S4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 13:17:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21180068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaInTheStars/pseuds/PandaInTheStars
Summary: Lucifer’s first instinct was to gape, openly, at the apparition in front of him.“I... what?” Lucifer said, rather inelegantly.Dan grinned, and for a brief moment Lucifer felt like he was looking into a carnival mirror. “Don’t you get it? It’s a ‘you’ costume.”





	Remaining to be seen

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Filii Hircus](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Filii_Hircus) "Dem Bones" Halloween challenge  
1313 words, prompts: Pranks, "Me" costume

It happened, as far as Lucifer was concerned, unexpectedly.

He was sitting at the Detective’s desk, as unassuming as he could be these days, when Dan approached him.

Lucifer’s first instinct was to gape, openly, at the apparition in front of him. Dan was dressed in a red long-sleeved shirt and red jeans. His belt, badge, and gun were in their usual location. Behind him, a long red felt tail with a triangular tip hung from his belt loop. A pair of dainty red horns attached to a hair band was sitting on his head. And, Lucifer could see, looped around Dan’s armpits was a cheap harness of some kind, clearly intended for keeping a small set of plastic red bat wings strapped to his back.

“I... what?” Lucifer said, rather inelegantly.

Dan grinned, and for a brief moment Lucifer felt like he was looking into a carnival mirror. “Don’t you get it? It’s a ‘you’ costume.”

Lucifer closed his mouth and blinked a few times. “But why?”

Dan chuckled and leaned over Chloe’s desk, placing his hands on either side of Lucifer. “It’s Halloween, dude,” he said, with the same emphasis on ‘dude’ as one might have on ‘dipshit.’

“Yes, I know that,” Lucifer said irritably. The tasteless pumpkins and cobwebs and kitschy paranormal decorations around the precinct had clued him in. “But why... this?” He gestured roughly to Dan’s entire person.

“You’ve pranked me enough times. I figured it was time to return the favor. You’ve dressed like me before. I thought I could do the same. You’re the Devil, aren’t you?” Dan’s lips crept into a cruel smile. He lifted an eyebrow.

Lucifer’s mouth felt dry. “I... I am.”

“Well then.” Dan pushed himself off the desk and did a little twirl. The tail swung behind him. Lucifer’s eyes caught on the wings. They were small and gnarly, shot through with veins. The plastic shone scarlet under the fluorescent lights. “What do you think? Pretty accurate, right?”

“No,” Lucifer said. His voice sounded very small. “I don’t look like that.”

“Are you sure?” Dan frowned. “I thought I did my research. Pretty much everyone throughout history thinks you look like this.” He did another turn, waggling his shoulders and making the wings move in an imitation of flapping. “Wait,” he said with mock consternation. “Does that mean you’re _not_ the Devil?”

Lucifer rose to his feet. He felt strangely unsteady. “No, I... I am. But I don’t look like that. I don’t have... horns or... or a tail.”

Dan paused in his little dance. His theatrics were starting to get attention from the other officers milling around. Papers shuffled and murmured voices rose. “But you do have wings, right? You used to never shut up about them.”

Lucifer swallowed. He couldn’t shift his gaze away from the bat-like wings chafing against Dan’s back. “I do.”

Dan chuckled. “God, I should take you in for a psych eval right now. You wouldn’t pass. You know you’re actually delusional, right?”

Lucifer curled his fingers into fists and held them stiffly at his side. It wouldn’t do to punch Dan in the face just now, no matter how tempting. Still, he could feel the anger and the indignation simmering just under the surface. And there was a lump in his throat. It seemed to expand with every passing minute.

Dan cocked his head. “What, nothing to say? You really believe this shit? And if you _don’t_, well then. What’s the deal? Do you think this stupid Devil schtick makes you clever? Does it make you special? Does it get people to _pay attention _to you?”

It was at this point that Chloe returned from her trip to the restroom. She stopped in front of the desk and looked between the two men. Her meager contribution to the precinct’s Halloween festivities involved wearing a witch’s hat over her normal work clothes. Her eyes widened when she saw Dan’s outfit. She blinked. “Wow, Dan. That’s, uh…”

Dan shifted his weight and put a hand on his hip. “Pretty great, right? Just, uh, paying tribute to the big guy over here.” He jerked his thumb in Lucifer’s direction.

Lucifer slammed his hands on the desk. It groaned under the strain. “I. _Don’t_. Look like that.” He whipped his head towards Chloe. The fire within him rose and fell just before it hit his eyes. “_Tell him_, Detective. I don’t look like that.”

Chloe took half a step back. “I… uh…”

Rage turned to desperation. “Tell him! You’ve seen me. You’ve… _really_ seen me. You know what I am.”

Chloe stuttered and flicked her gaze to Dan. He looked back at her evenly. _Why the Hell do you put up with this maniac?_ was written in bold across his face. “He… he doesn’t have horns,” Chloe said woodenly.

Dan gasped and brought a hand to his chest. “Well!” he said, packing as much sarcasm into the word as possible. “Glad we cleared that up.” His lip curled. Then he turned on his heel and stalked back to his desk under the stairs.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s right!” Lucifer said too loudly. “Hornless, that’s me. But always horny. Walking paradox, I am.”

“Lucifer, _shut up_.”

Lucifer turned and smiled at her. “Detective, thank you for defending my honor.”

“Lucifer, you can’t _do _that.”

His smile dropped. “Do what?”

“Put me in that kind of position!” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I can’t just talk about your… Devilhood or whatever in public like that. Like it’s real.”

“It is real.”

“I know that, Lucifer. I do.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Yes, but you of all people—I-I-I mean, um… you should know how _unbelievable _it is.”

Lucifer’s brow furrowed. “So, I’m an embarrassment to you.”

Chloe sighed. “No, Lucifer, that’s not what I meant.”

“Detective Decker’s delusional partner.” He looked out at the bullpen. “It’s what they all think, isn’t it?”

“Lucifer…”

His eyes snapped back to her. “Did you think that? Before? Did you think I was crazy?”

Chloe bit her lip. “I… I thought you were… in your own head. That… the world only made sense to you through some kind of… filter.” She breathed in sharply and looked Lucifer in the eye. “You’re reckless, sure. Eccentric, definitely. But no, I didn’t think you were crazy. Your world was a little… different compared to ours.” She deflated then, the air leaving her lungs in a rush. “Turns out that’s even more true than I thought.”

“Indeed.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry about Dan.”

“Once a Douche, always a Douche.”

“Maybe. He didn’t have to do this, though.”

“No, but… Perhaps some of the responsibility does fall on my shoulders. I’ve been, uh, pushing him a little harder lately. I thought it would get him out of this… funk.”

Chloe looked over to where Dan was sitting. His ridiculous Devil outfit stood in sharp contrast to the mundanity of his desk. She pursed her lips. “I think it’s a little more than a funk.”

“Yes, perhaps you’re right. I’ll back off.”

“Thank you. I’ll ask him to change out of that outfit.” Chloe patted Lucifer on the arm. He shivered a little under her touch. He had missed this, these casual touches they used to share, not even that long ago. Lucifer watched in slight awe as her hand slipped away and she retreated to go talk to Dan.

Lucifer just stood there for a moment, breathing.

She saw him. She knew him.

She had run, yes. She had almost…

But that didn’t matter now. She was here. Now. Touching him. Defending him. _Believing _him in a world full of sightless beings who wouldn’t know a Devil unless it danced in front of them, waving its metaphorical horns and tail around.

Lucifer sniffed. He adjusted his cufflinks.

He had what he desired.

Damn the rest of them.


End file.
